Fish-trap.



N. H. BUTCHER.

FISH TRAP.

, APPLICATION FILED NOV. 2I| IQII. IILLI Patented Nov. 23, 1915.

N. H. BUTCHER.

FISH TRAP.

APPLICATION NEED Nov.21.1914. l LLM Patented Nov. 23, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- To all ywhom t may Concern:

Be it known that l, Namen ller-nir Birrcnnn2 citizen ot the UnitedStates, r'e? siding` at Detroit9 in the eounty of lllayne and State ofll'liohigan, .have invented een tain. new and nselinl .lnnnoveinents inllinh- Traps, owhich the following is a .speellication,

lli/ly invention relates to new and nsct'nl improvements in iinh traps`and while espe Cially adapted for the tra ppinp; of small Heh such asminno'ws vet the saine is capable of use when, made upon a large scalefor the catching of relatively larger tish. The device is. also intendedfor use as a live trap for the preservation ot Small fish for bait. i,

Une of the objects of the present inven-` tion is to provideirst a trapcapable ot being' folded into Such s nail cinnpans; that the same may hecarried troni place to place in a Satchel or hand bag.

Another object is to provide a conihined trap and live hait receptacle.or Container capable olf heling;- placed npon the bed of a stream orother hotly ot water and 'provided with means floating; upon. theSurface of the water ior indicating the location thereof and opera 'wthe trap either to Close the saine and thi trap the. fish or hanl. thetrap to the surface or holh as desired 'llo provide, a. trap which while'lfoldahle into a si'nall Qpaee vet will when nn'liolded or Set np `toroperation he ol a snhstai'itial na ture and forni a rigid `strnctnre l*l'leferrine' now to the drawin 'forming al part of thin speciieationQFinale l is a lop perspective view ot the trap illustrating the saine innitei'ided position heneath the. surface or' the water in condition toreceive the [ish which enter to 'leed Upon the hait placed therein:Fig'. 2 is a central hori Zontal sectional view thereof-gv Fig'. centraltransverse section thereof, and Fie'. l

is a top perspective View ot the trap `when lin folded condition andready ior packing'.

Referring now tothe drawings hv nnmera le of reference. l indicates`generally7V a main-snpporting' Structure which when the trap is inoperative position as lhown in lligr. l takes the. forni ot arectangular :traine constituted h v end metal plates or rods: 2 and 3and Side longitudinal inetal plates or rods 4l and 5 each of the latterbeing formed in two sections and hinged or pivotecl together at ltatenteall Nom @35,

l5 and i' to permit the folding of the tions forming' each side platerespectively lone'itm'linallv npon thcn'iselves ae shown in Fie el. Uneot the Sections of each side ineinher iS extended heyond its pivotalconnection with the other Section and Coperates with a sliding); volteor Sleeve 8 upon said latter section to hold its respective eideineniher in extended position. r`he longitn VV al side plates: l and 5in addition to the centrally located pivotal connections G and areprovided at their onter endel with pivotal Connections t?, ll), Vll andl2 with the end plates 2 and, 3 to ifacilit 'te the lolding of the mainsupportare traine structure. Rifiidly eonneeted with each of the endplateel 2 and 3 preferably integral 'therewith is a metallic bowed orarched upright plate. 13 and 14. ecn'ierating with 'the Side and endframe plates to support or stretch a netting; or niesh l5 and 'l5'forming' the top and hottoin oi'f the trap.

lnivotalliY seei'lred to each of the upright plates i3 `and ifithrongl'ithe medium of rigid bosses 1G, li, 18 and lf) secnrel to the saidupright plates 13 and 14 iS a bowed `or arched metal plate. .0.0 and Q1respectively, said ph conforming; in outline and general contour to then'gfriglit bowed plates to which they are hing-fed the 'tiniction otwhich features is to provim a tight joint hetween the meetings; edges;or the adjacent bowed plates; when the trap is closed thus eii'eotnallvpreventing` the Scale or even the sinallest iish cangrht within thetrap. Netting or mesh 22 and is also stretched over the plates Q0 andF21 respectively and hound to the edges 'thereoit" in a hanitahlcmanner.

The top netting or mesh ot the trap is pri'ivided -with a. longitudinalCentral opening; :T2-l, the netting;` adjacent the opening' beingrFreinforced or formed hy rolling;` the nettingv npon itself; as at 25,the walls forming the peninnj bein` spaced apart at the eentrallongitudinal 'portion of the trap and converging' toward their ends.llor the pnrpose of closing the tap he'tore hauling; the lathe, lprovidel a draw rope or oord 26, divided at its lower portion into twolengths of `cord '2T and. 2S the terminal portions of which areconnected to 'the central longitudinal portion of the pivoted end bowedplates Q0 and 2l respectively hv eyelets or other fastening devices 2f.)and 30. Guides 3l and are rigidly secured to the central longi tudinalportieri of the upright bows 13 and 14 and guide the cords 27 and 28 asthey V pass therethrough when the end pivoted ows 22 and 23 are closedby pull exerted upon the draw rope 26. A iioat 33 is attached to thefree-or upper end of the cord surface of the-water by a cork or float35.

The corks or floats 33 and 35 may be-of very light weight as for exampleof suicient buoyancy to merely support the weight of the cords 26 and34, the net resting as shown in Fig. 1 on the bed of the stream or bodyof water. 0n the other hand the ioat 35 may be ot' sutiicient buoyancyto support the entire weight of the net at any distance be'- neath thesurface of the water and above the bed ofthe stream, the float 33 beingmerely for the purpose of indicating the location of the trap closingcord 26. y

The operation of my tra-p ,is extremel simple and may bebrieflydescribed as fo lows: The trap' in its operative or vextended laoposition as shown in Fig. 1, is lowered into the water, bait of adesired nature rst having been placed on the netting or mesh 15.

The Ycorks 33 and 35 will then iioat upon the surface of the water andindicate the" j location of the trap and -the operating cords. .Fish maythen enter the trap to feed upon the bait at the open ends vand'throughthe top opening 24. A person or attendant now wishing to trap the fishwill 'pull upon the' cord 26 causing the pivoted end bowed plates 20 and21 over 'which the mesh 'is -stretched to fold simultaneously againstends of the trap.v The attendant n ow ex-v erts a pull on the haul cord34 at the same time keeping the'cord 26 taut and lifts the trap to thesurface ofthe water to remove the ii'sh caught therein. The opera-v tionmay be repeated by opening the ends,

and lowering thebaited trap.

Thetrap is capable of being' folded byy sliding the sleeves 8 from overthe extensions forming part of one section of eachside member rspectively and lbendingthe joints 6 and 7 'inwardly las shown in 4 whichalso shows the entire structure in folded position ready for packing orshipf ping.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to protectbyLetters Patent is: t y

1. A fish trap comprising a main frame having rigid end members, sidemembers collapsible centrally of their length, and a pivoted or hingedVmember secured to each ot said rigid end members and means foroperating said pivoted or hinged members.

2. A fish trap comprising a frame having rigid -end members, sectionaland centrally foldable side members, anda hinged member mounted uponeach of said rigid 'end members and means for operating said hinged endmembers.

3. -IA fish trap comprising a frame having end members, collapsible sidemembers foldable midway of their length, a netting or mesh stretchedover the frame formed by said end and side members, an end memberpivoted to each of said end frame members, and means for moving saidpivoted end members into parallel relation with said end frame membersto close the trap.

4. A iish trap comprisinga frame having arched or 'bowed endmembers,-and sectional and centrally pivoted side members, and meansfor4 locking said sectional `andlpiv- ,oted side members in extendedposition to provide a, substantially rectangular frame structure and anetting or mesh stretched on and supported by said frame members.

5. A frame fore sh trap comprising parl allel verticalendmembers havinga horizontal'base portion and an arched or bowed upper portiomfsectionalside members, each consisting of a rod jointed centrally of its lengthhaving its end portions pivoted to said end members,'an arched or bowedmember pivoted toiea'ch of said end members and capable of foldingintoparallel relation therewith, and means forvsimultaneously loperatingsaid pivoted arched members;

6. A fish trap comprising a frame lia'ving parallel vertical end membershaving a horizontalbase portion and an archedv upper portion, sidemembers foldable'midway of their' length connecting said` end members,said end and side members constituting a frame for supporting andstretching a netting or mesh, arched end members pivotally secured tothe frame end members and conforming lin outline at the arched portionsto lthe arched or bowedend frame members, a 'netting or mesh stretchedover said pivoted end .members means for simultaneously swingngsaidpivoted end members to close the trap and means secured to the framestructure for raisingthe trap from the water in which it is placed.

Iny testimony whereof I aix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

f 'NELSON HENRY BUTCHER.

Witnesses:

`J. A. Watan,

E. A. vFJSMAN.

